Ebay roadbike wreck to go-kart

[rouseyrouse]

Hey all,

Title basically says it all.

I've just moved to Australia so i have heaps of spare time at the moment.

Plan is too find a roadbike on ebay, hopefully going cheap due to frame damage or something along those lines and pickup the engine etc.

Note: I want to have something i can get going then work on over time towards goals of maybe a under 4 second 0-100km/h etc.

I just have a few questions regarding the project;

1. What Engines i should be looking at; Initially i wanted to go down the whole most possible cc avenue but from talking to a friend mechanic and reading on the forums apparently going for two cylinders is better. Maybe a cbr400 etc?

2. Is buying a gokart frame going to be strong enough etc, or should i try find someone local that can bend a new frame out for me. (i have access to a large workshop with welding equipment etc) and if so what specifications should i be looking at in terms of pipe density and size etc. (Want to be light but strong)

Thanks in advance,

Hayden

 

[OzFab]

Welcome to the forum... & the country Where did you move from & where in Australia are you?

If the engine is small/light enough, you may get away with strengthening/modifying a racing frame to suit. However, IMHO, 0-100ks in under 4 seconds is:
1. a bit of a reach
2. asking for trouble...

For a good, inexpensive source of a wrecked bike, see Pickles Auctions

 

[rouseyrouse]

Welcome to the forum... & the country Where did you move from & where in Australia are you?

If the engine is small/light enough, you may get away with strengthening/modifying a racing frame to suit. However, IMHO, 0-100ks in under 4 seconds is:
1. a bit of a reach
2. asking for trouble...

For a good, inexpensive source of a wrecked bike, see Pickles Auctions

Thanks for the welcome & the input, i've moved to melbourne

I guess that's kind of what im looking for, nothing too easy, a bit of problem solving and looking too set the bar, i've seen videos of karts with r1 engines on them; some boasting 3 second 0-100km/h.

 

[OzFab]

I'm not saying it's impossible, we just don't recommend or condone it...

 

[landuse]

I'm not saying it's impossible, we just don't recommend or condone it...

Especially on rides that are homemade...

 

[jman231994]

If you can get the grip you wont have any issues getting under 4 seconds, whether its safe or not is up to you....The Formula SAE car at my uni gets around 3s 0-100 with a cbr600 and its a ~300kg car with driver if that helps.

Brakes all round and a roll hoop will be your friends

And welcome to Australia....where things are bitier

Just kidding, just run away from everything

 

[Felineman]

SPEED KILLS...... Don't do drugs. For all other things quote Tim Alan "MORE POWER"

 

[fowler]

speed doesnt kill

becomeing suddenly stationary is what gets them

i would build my own frame

something like a redneck sae car

a race kart is just to small and unstable for me

id be going for somthing low and wide for those speeds

 

[DMCdesign]

design and spitballs......

thinking about design now?

let me just spitball here.....

 

[rouseyrouse]

Especially on rides that are homemade...

Not exactly going to be homemade as I mentioned I'll probably have the frame bent professionally and I'm working with two mechanics and save entire shop of equipment art many disposal. Thanks for the input guys. I like the sae idea. I recently got some 60 plus hour weekly employment so when I have ttime I'll post any updates .

 

[exenos]

Being a mechanic means nothing if they have only worked on cars. A Fabricator or Mech Engineer on the other hand...

Not saying that the Mechanics who will be helping you wont be any help. I'm just pointing out the fact that you can have a Mechanic who is a wizard with cars but be clueless when it comes to actual fabrication. Just because some one is a mechanic doesn't automatically make them masters of all things with wheels.

 

[fowler]

I'm my experience

In the heavy industry any way

Mechanical engineers are wicked at fabricating a drawing on a computer
And can do the sums

But at actual fabrication
Clueless

Mechanics have to know how the weld and use a gas axe at a basic

A fabricator, boilermaker or sheet metal worker is best of course

 

[rouseyrouse]

Sorry communication error on my part. they're employed as mechanics at one of my patents businesses and everyone there just refers to them as that but they're required to design and fabricate many devices and mobile units for use by the company and both have automobile engineering expertise